St. Norbert's Church - Sunday Reflections

This is the month when we pray for those who have died. How comforting it is for us to have a faith that tells us that our prayers on their behalf are helpful to them. How valuable it is that they can continue to help us from their places in Heaven. We can pray for them when we come to Church. Still, we want proof!

In all of our readings today, we hear about life that lasts forever. The Sadducees in our Gospel reading don't believe there is such a thing. There are many things we know through faith. Saint Paul tells us that if we don't believe in the resurrection, our faith is useless. It's that critical. The resurrection adds meaning to every day of our lives.

We have received our faith from our ancestors. They lived, had children and raised their children within the Church. They made it through indescribably difficult times borne up by their faith. In the worst of times they took solace in the knowledge that their lives were not being lived in vain. A time would come when there was no more suffering, no more tears, no more sadness. They would understand with absolute clarity. They would see their family members and friends again. They would see God face to face.

We live this day as God's children. We do our best to set a worthy example for our own children and grandchildren to follow. We struggle with our own questions about the meaning of life. We too, look forward to the day when the Lord comes again.

That's what the month of November is about. We approach the end of the Church year and reflect on the end of time as we know it. As we commend our deceased friends and relatives to the loving mercy of God, we prepare for the time when we follow them. Not of us know the day or the hour. All we can do is to live each day worthily.

As we hear in our Gospel reading, Jesus said to them, "The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called out 'Lord,' the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive."

This week we can pray for our deceased family members and friends. We peace with those we have harmed and pray for the willingness to forgive those who have harmed us. We can live each day, ready for the coming of the Lord; ready for our lack of understanding to be permeated with sure knowledge of God's love for us.